


Being Human is Overrated. (But, sometimes you have to be one.)

by MarphasChappers



Category: One Piece
Genre: Most of the time he is a Lion though, Richie is Human, Stereden's One Piece Universe., mentioning of slavery, mentions of panic attack, no beta we die like man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28944816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarphasChappers/pseuds/MarphasChappers
Summary: Richie had seen a lot of humanity, it was no surprise that he decided to rather stay a Lion. But if his Captain needed him, he did not mind taking Human form.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Buggy, Buggy (One Piece) & Richie
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32





	Being Human is Overrated. (But, sometimes you have to be one.)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Watashitachi wa Roger kaizoku desu (we still stand proud)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884211) by [stereden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereden/pseuds/stereden). 



Richie looked toward the slave auction house not too far away from him and his crew and gave a snort as he laid his head on his paws. _'And Captain wonders why I decided to stay a Lion,’_ he thought, a slight growl escaping him which stopped as the said captain started to pet his snout.

"I know, Rich... It's only for a little while, hopefully, we will be able to leave again soon." Buggy said, running his fingers through the lion-zoans hair.

The Lion-zoan closed his eyes and pressed his head closer to his Captain’s hand, a slight purr replacing the growl. 

Richie knows about his Captain’s past, he knows just how much nerves it costs the blue-haired man to be this far in the Grandline when he had sworn to never set foot there again, and yet, here there were. A stone’s throw away from Marineford on Saboady, the slavers’ heaven that was just so crawling with Celestial Dragons and Marines and all just because the old silver dragon had heard that Captain Buggy and Captain Shanks had been on the Grandline together not too long ago.

Honestly? Being here made his skin crawl just as much as it did Captains but the fact that the old fart thought he had the right to summon _his_ Captain as though he was an errant child made Richie’s hair stand on end for an entirely different reason.

The Lion-Zoan was drawn away from his thought by a snort from his Captain which prompted him to open an eye only to see the other giving him an amused smirk.  
  
“What are you thinking about, huh? It’s hopefully not all the ways you could kill Rayleigh-san, that’s mine, and Shanks’ job.” the blue-haired man said in a joking tone, trying to seem relaxed, but the tension in Buggy’s shoulders told Richie an entirely different story. 

Richie snorted, just about to demand more pets when he spotted a splash of red in the corner of his eye, _‘Troublesome red,’_ the lion-zoan let out a small sigh before he shoved Buggy slightly with his snout and got up.

“Yeah, yeah, I noticed him too.” The clown-themed pirate sighed, anxiety radiating from him though he hid it with well-practiced ease, “Time to face the music, eh?” he said as the red-head was close enough, some of the anxiety lessening with the knowledge that he had Shanks and, at last, one member of his crew with him. 

“Yeah, let’s get this over and done with, Bug.” Shanks said, looking just as done with this as his ~~brother~~ best friend. 

“I still don’t see why we have to leave Richie outside alone.” Buggy grumbled under his breath. Logically, the man knew that Richie’s lion form was too big to fit in the bar, that did not mean it sit well with him to leave _Richie_ alone outside on fucking _Saboady_ of all places. 

But, thanks to the Zoan’s keen hearing, Richie had found out pretty early where they were going and did not take ‘no’ for an answer when Buggy said, he would go alone.

Captain be damned, Richie wasn’t going to let Buggy go to _Motherfucking Saboady_ of all places _thankyouveryfuckingmuch!_

Still, as Richie lied down before the Bar, he was grouchily hopeful that the talk with the old sod would go over well.

In hindsight, Richie should probably have taken the chance and piss the old asshole in the backyard while he still could.

* * *

Roughly one hour later, Richie was scaring away another idiotic slaver trying to catch him with a fucking cowboy sling when the door of the bar was thrown open with a ‘BAM!’.

All of his hairs stood on end when he turned when he saw the dark look on Captain Shank’s face and the subtle shaking of his own captains’ hands, their Haki a barely controlled mess.  
  
“Let’s get out of here, Rich.” It was Shanks that spoke, and the Zoan could not help but look between the red-head and his captain. 

Shanks shook his head as he grabbed Buggy’s hand before he started to walk only to pause when he saw Richie leveling a dark look into the direction of the bar. “It’s not worth it, Rich. Come on, we have Buggy to worry about.”

Richie growled but nodded his head before he walked over and pressed his head into one of his Captains’ shaking hands. Feeling how the hand immediately stopped to shake and bury itself in his mane, Richie could not help but sigh in relief _‘Not as bad as I feared then.’_ Richie thought as he started to purr softly while they walked back to the ship. 

Fortunately, it did not take them long to reach the ship, Shanks, despite having only one arm left, was fast at making everything ready to set sail. 

Buggy meanwhile, was back on his best way to fall into a panic attack, the walk through the middle of Sabaody did not help with the man’s oversensitive Observation Haki only adding into it.

Seeing this, Richie gave a small sigh as he closed his eyes and felt his form sink. Four pews becoming two arms and two legs, fur receding as it became long, wavy blonde hair once again. 

Richie hated his human form, but it was still the form he was born in and it was good for situations like this, even if he looked like he and Buggy could be related. There were differences, Richie’s nose was well… not round, his hair, while just as long, was so bright blonde it could as well be white, but the biggest difference was the distinctive brand in the middle of Richie’s back, a brand that was usually hidden by a mass of fur. 

With a shake of his head, the man crouched in front of his captain, taking care to convey his movements for Buggy to follow, Richie grabbed the other man’s face. “Everything is alright, Captain… don’t forget what Dr, Kureha taught you… Breath in for seven seconds, hold it for eight seconds, breath out for nine seconds… yes… good, just like that.” Richie did not look up when Shanks walked over and sat beside Buggy as he helped the Zoan to calm the blue-haired man down.

It seemed like hours but was in reality just ten minutes later as Buggy leaned on Shanks, visibly exhausted, and gave a small laugh. “You should take human form more often, Rich… your voice sounds like someone took a grater to it,” 

Richie just snorted and sat down beside his captain and Shanks. “Don’t be stupid, Captain. Being human is much too troublesome.”  
  
Buggy just snorted but there was no humor in it, “I wish my fruit had been a Zoan.” he said, leaning on both, Shanks and Richie.  
  
The Zoan just shook his head and started to run his hands through Buggy’s hair. “You really don’t, Captain. “  
  


“He’s right Bug,” Shanks said, grinning at them. _‘I wonder when Buggy will notice that Richie is buck ass naked and he’s nearly sitting in Rich’s lab?’_


End file.
